


"I Promise", She Lied

by Kindred Dragon (JamesPeppersalt)



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family Fluff, Goodbyes, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-26 20:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10794135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamesPeppersalt/pseuds/Kindred%20Dragon
Summary: On the night before the final battle, Robin knows she must say her goodbyes to her family. Little do they know is that these goodbyes are final.





	"I Promise", She Lied

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FreezingKaiju](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezingKaiju/gifts).



> My fem!Robin/Chrom version of the fic. m!Robin/Chrom can be found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10794138).

**“I Promise”, She Lied**

 

* * *

 

 

Robin knew she was going to die.

It was very apparent from the moment she learned that she was the vessel of Grima. She’d known when she learned that it was her hand that had killed her beloved Chrom in the future. She’d known when her beautiful daughter Lucina had faced her with tears in her eyes to cut her down, if only to save their friends and family. Robin had been ready then. She’d faced Lucina with open arms and told her that her life was and had always been hers.

But Lucina hadn’t been able to do it. She’d lain Falchion down and sobbed, lamenting at the fact that she’d nearly killed her own mother.

Robin forgave her in a heartbeat. She was proud of her daughter for having the courage to stand up to her like that.

However, there was no changing what must be done.

“Mother? Are you okay?”

Robin looked up and smiled at her son. The two were reading together in the camp’s library, talking strategy— a family tradition. However, tonight, Lucina and Chrom had not joined them. “I’m fine, Morgan. Just… lost in thoughts.”

“Oh… okay.” He glanced down at the tome he held. “Well, I think in our coming battle with Grima, we should be prepared— if we send in a few mounted Shepherds, we might have an advantage. Since, you know. We’ll be on the back of a dragon.”

Robin chuckled. “That’s a good idea, Morgan. I’ll make note of that. We’ll bring plenty of pegasus knights and wyvern riders.”

Morgan smiled. Robin’s heart ached at her beautiful son’s happiness. She wondered how he would fare without her. All of the memories he had of his old life were of her.

She grimaced at the remembrance of the fact that it was because of her that her children had no memory of their father, amnesia or no.

“Mother? You’re drifting off again.”

Robin chuckled dryly, the humor having gone completely from her voice. “I’m _fine_ , my dear. I’m afraid the weight of this war is… weighing on me, though. I’m a bit tired.”

“Oh.” Morgan chewed on his bottom lip, his brown eyes darting to the side; an indication that he was pondering something that weighed on his mind. “Well… I know this is our final battle. It’s only going to get harder from here on out. I know that I don’t know… don’t _remember_ … what it was like to live in the future ruined by Grima. I don’t have the same future to fight for as the others.”

“Morgan…”

Robin’s son’s eyes met her. She was always amazed by his eyes— so soft, yet so full of live, mirroring hers almost perfectly. “Mother, I want to fight for you. For Father. For Lucina. For my friends and family and all the people I love.”

Robin paused with slight shock, but, slowly, a smile graced her lips. “I’m so glad, Morgan. And, just know… I’m fighting for all of you too.”

“I know,” Morgan answered, though the tone of his voice was more… somber than usual, which was completely unlike her hopeful, optimistic son.

“Are we interrupting?”

The two of them turned to find Chrom and Lucina standing at the entrance. The two looked solemn, but they were still smiling. Robin assumed they’d had a good chat.

She knew what they’d been talking about. Were Chrom to fall in battle, a new Exalt would have to take the throne. Robin assumed they’d also met with Lissa’s family.

Though Robin had not said why, she’d expressed that if Chrom died, she would not and could not take his throne. Morgan had also agreed, having already told Lucina he wouldn’t prepare for the deaths of his loved ones.

Robin lamented the fact that she was all but forcing him to prepare for hers.

“Father! Sister!” Morgan said, rising from his seat and running to them. He met his father with a powerful hug.

“Whoa, Morgan!” Chrom laughed, embracing his son. “How’s my boy?”

“I’m doing fine, Father,” Morgan answered.

“Is everything alright?” Robin asked, standing, her chair pushed back from the table as she did so.

Chrom and Lucina shared a glance.

“Ah… we were hoping you could join us on a walk,” Lucina answered. “Just the four of us. Before the final battle.”

Robin gazed at her family. Chrom, her husband, was staring at his children with pride. Morgan was watching everyone attentively, but with a look of longing as he stood in his father’s arms, as if he didn’t want to let go.

And Lucina?

Lucina stared directly at Robin, with a look that was a combination of love, loss, and melancholy all rolled into one.

She deserved more. She deserved a life well-lived. She deserved a future that didn’t tear her apart and spit her out. She deserved a family that hadn’t been torn and broken and shattered.

A family was all Robin could give her right now.

 

* * *

 

The four of them had wandered far from camp, talking strategy and about their fellow Shepherds, exchanging stories and words of encouragement. It was all in good fun, but there was an unshakable aura of sorrow and dread overhanging the entire event, as though this were the family’s last outing.

Only Robin knew that it very well could be.

Soon, Chrom and Morgan began a debate about whether or not Chrom’s one-shoulder policy was tacky, and Lucina and Robin began to drift back away from the two of them.

“Mother…” Lucina began once they were far enough to still see Morgan and Chrom but remain out of earshot.

“Lucina,” Robin answered. “Is something wrong?”

“No… yes…?” Lucina sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t know.”

Robin wrapped an arm around her oldest child as they walked. “It’s alright to not know. Not everything is always quite as clear as we’d like it to be.”

Lucina smiled sadly. “Mother… you always know exactly what to say. I’m… I’m saddened at the thought that some of us might not make it out alive… the two of us included.”

Robin’s heart twinged. Still, she feigned a smile. “Sweetheart, nothing could ever drive us apart.” She stopped just long enough to turn and face her daughter, wrapping her in a hug. “Whatever happens, no matter if I live or die, you have to go on.”

“…Mother, I…”

“Promise me,” Robin begged, tightening her grip around Lucina’s waist and in her hair as she buried her head in her daughter’s shoulder, forcing the tears to remain at bay. “You have to go on. For your father and brother. For _me_.”

“I…” Lucina drew in a shaky breath. “I promise.”

Robin smiled and leaned back, holding Lucina’s shoulders. “That’s all I could ask.”

Lucina’s eyes were filling with tears, her trembling jaw clenched. Robin knitted her brow. “Oh, my lovely Luci…” she brushed strands of blue hair from her daughter’s face. “No matter what happens, I will always be with you.” Robin kissed Lucina’s forehead and hugged her one last time. Then, she grabbed her daughter’s hand and pulled her along to rejoin the rest of their family.

 

* * *

 

 

“This was good!” Chrom announced as they headed towards camp to rejoin the fray once more. “I think this was a wonderful family bonding experience as a whole.”

Lucina and Morgan agreed, walking side-by-side, having just ended a conversation about swords and why Morgan should stop using Falchion to cut various fruits and kill cockroaches.

Robin had decided not to ask.

She and Chrom, in the meantime, were hand in hand, ready to retire to their tent, before Chrom said, “You know, I think I’m going to do one last check on the other Shepherds before bed.”

“Alright,” Robin replied, nodding. “I don’t think I’ll join you, however. I’d… like some time alone.”

“That’s fine,” Chrom answered. He removed his hands from Robin’s and instead wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist. “I’ll just see you later,” he informed her before planting a soft kiss upon her lips.

“Ugh,” Lucina groaned, looking away as she put a hand over her brother’s eyes.

“Hey!” Morgan protested.

Their parents laughed.

“Don’t worry, I have plenty of kisses for you, too,” Chrom joked, puckering his lips at them as he released their mother.

Robin smiled at her children’s laugher as Chrom wrapped them both in a bear hug and showered them with kisses over their foreheads and cheeks. She reveled in their mirth and joy, knowing full well that this could be her last look at her smiling family, all together.

Lucina wiped her face as her father released her and Morgan, chuckling as he walked away, waving “goodnight”. “Well… I think I’m going to bed.” She pursed her lips, then threw her arms around Robin, nearly knocking the both of them over.

“Lucina…”

“I love you,” she sobbed quietly, her voice almost a squeak. She released her mother and turned to Morgan. “And I love you, too.”

“I love you, too, Lucina,” Morgan said, opening his arms and hugging his sister tightly. When they released each other, Lucina ran a hand through her brother’s blue hair, nearly identical in hue to hers, brushing it out of his eyes as she smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll count on it.”

Before walking away, she glanced between her mother and brother, nodding as her face returned to being stoic. She gave them one last smile before retreating.

“…So,” Morgan began, now that he and Robin were alone, “I guess this is goodnight.”

“It is,” Robin answered. “Do I get a hug?”

Morgan grinned slowly. “Of course, Mother.”

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and she reciprocated the gesture. However, when she loosened her hold, he did not do the same.

“Um… Morgan?”

“You’re not coming back, are you?”

His voice was barely a whisper in her ear, but he may as well have shouted it. She should have known she couldn’t keep it from him; he was as bright as they came.

She returned her arms to his back, sighing. “No… I’m not.”

“You’re not going to tell Lucina or Father?”

“No. But... even if they don’t know, I think they suspect.”

Morgan was silent, his breathing remarkably calm in Robin’s ear, his face resting softly on his mother’s shoulder.

“I… I’ll miss you so much,” Morgan answered finally, sniffing. “The world won’t be the same without you.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” Morgan cried. “I am, too… oh, Mother…”

“There, now,” Robin sighed, tears stinging her eyes as she rubbed his back soothingly. “I’ll always be with you, you know.”

“I know…”

“And you’ll always have Lucina and your father. You have to take care of them now, okay?”

“I… I can’t,” he sobbed.

“You can. I believe in you, Morgan.” She paused. “Do you know my tactics book?”

“The… the leather-bound one with all of your notes.”

“Yes. When I’m gone… it’s yours.”

“Mother, I can’t… I can’t prepare for your death…”

“I know it hurts,” she reassured him, “but one day, this pain will just be another scar, another memory, another past that can be used to shape the future.”

“I want _you_ in my future…”

“I know. And I’m so, so sorry.”

Morgan lifted a hand to wipe his eyes. “Mother… I hope that one day, we’ll see each other again.”

“I know we will. And I’ll pray for that day, whenever it shall come.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

After consoling Morgan, Robin had taken a lap around the camp. Lovers consoled each other, parents fussed over their children, siblings squawked at each other, and everyone said their “I love you”s.

Nobody had to say goodbye. Nobody wanted to admit that they might not live to see another day.

Robin was different.

Robin was alone.

She sat on a bench in the middle of the camp, her hood pulled up over her face. She watched her friends and comrades go by, one by one; return to their tents, one-by-one; lanterns go out, one-by-one. She loved to sit and watch the camp go by; this nighttime ritual had always been comforting.

Now, it was lonely.

She wrapped her arms around herself, closing her eyes. This was the last time she would watch the others go by; the was the last time she’d be here, in the midst of all her friends and loved ones.

No longer was she comforted by the notion of everything going on around her without her intervention.

It wasn’t long before Robin’s thoughts were interrupted; two strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind, a chin resting on her shoulder, warm breath on her neck.

“How’s my favorite tactician?” Chrom chuckled, placing kisses upon his wife’s neck and face.

Robin sighed and raised a hand to wrap around Chrom’s head. “I’m tired, and quite frankly, I’m ready for bed.”

“Oh? If you’re so tired, I’ll just carry you to our tent.”

“Wait—” Robin laughed as her husband scooped her up into his arms, swiveling to carry her back to their tent.

They were already prepared to retire, for the most part; upon arrival, Chrom had set her down, and they’d both changed into nightclothes before falling into their shared bed, reaching for each other after the lantern had been blown out, finding each other under covers and embracing.

Chrom wrapped his arms around Robin as she huddled close. “…You know, we’re going to be alright.”

Robin paused. “I know.”

“Robin… I can read you like a book. I know that you don’t believe that for a second.”

The tactician chuckled humorlessly and buried her head in her husband’s chest. “Chrom… bad things happen sometimes. We can’t always win every battle and suffer no losses.”

“I know that.” He leaned down, pressing their foreheads together. “But I also know that someone I love very much holds it to be true that there’s no such thing as scripted fate.”

Robin smiled. She should have known Chrom would use her own words against her.

“Robin… fate can be changed. I know you might not have hope, but… just know that somewhere, even if not in this world, you survive this battle. And you _will_ survive this battle, in _this_ world.”

“Chrom…”

“Do you promise?”

Robin pursed her lips. She wrapped her arms around her husband and kissed him before leaning into his ear and whispering,

“ _I promise_.”


End file.
